What Are the Results of Defaulting on Your Mortgage in Spain?
When money is tight, many people end up in a situation where they cannot pay their bills, sometimes including their mortgage. Whether the mortgage is on a primary residence or vacation home, defaulting on a mortgage can have serious consequences for the homeowner. These consequences vary by state, province, and country, so you must be sure to completely understand them.
There are specific repercussions involved in defaulting on a Spanish mortgage. If you are not a Spanish citizen but own a home in Spain, you may think its still possible to easily walk away from the mortgage with no consequences whatsoever. This was especially true if the homeowner was not a Spanish citizen and the home was a vacation home or second residence. But now Spanish mortgage holders can and do pursue every legal means necessary to collect on their mortgages.
If you find yourself unable to avoid defaulting on your Spanish mortgage, the bank may agree to take the home back. This option will save you money in court costs incurred by the bank when pursuing you for the balance, as well as additional interest on the mortgage during the court battle. However, turning the home over to the bank is a process that must be negotiated. The bank is under no obligation to let you out of the mortgage by taking the home back. Homeowners that have a true hardship as a reason for defaulting on a Spanish mortgage will likely be more successful in negotiating a home turnover. An example of such a hardship would be the death of a spouse or another situation that has caused your income to be drastically cut.
If despite your attempts to negotiate a home turnover, the bank refuses your offer, you must then sell your home. The homeowner must sell the home for as much as possible, as the bank that holds the Spanish mortgage will come after him or her for any amount remaining on the loan after the home sale proceeds are paid to the bank. If the shortfall is significant, the bank will be much more likely to pursue you for that amount. They will attempt to collect the remaining amount they are owed in any legal way they can. The bank may collect money by placing liens on any and all assets of the homeowner..
Even if defaulting on your Spanish mortgage is inevitable, you should work with the bank as much as possible as soon as you know you must default. Showing a willingness to work with the bank can allow a homeowner to walk away from a Spanish mortgage with as little financial cost as possible and still retain full ownership of all his or her other assets.
